Pedestrian paradise

A sign of a great city is not just how tall or modern its towers are, it is also seen in the quality of its sidewalks. We all have to commute or travel into a city district from other districts, or from outside the city. Once you alight though, you have to walk — everyone has to walk, rich or poor, highly-paid manager or rank and file clerk. Walking is the great equalizer and the sidewalk is its predominant urban setting.

Being able to comfortably perambulate to your office, or destinations nearby, on good sidewalks spells the difference between a friendly place and one you want to avoid. Most of Metro Manila is notorious for its narrow, garbage-strewn, cracked and shoddy pavements. Many areas of the metropolis do not have any sidewalks at all, as they have been usurped by vendors, barangay halls, utility poles and cars.

Manila seems to be the only city where the pedestrian has to fight with cars for sidewalk space. Blame it on a building code that has not changed much since the 1930s. At that time the population of the city was less than half a million and the height of our buildings did not go past six stories. Today most city districts have to accommodate a million pedestrians a day and buildings now reach past 60 stories, with 20 stories being commonplace.

On HV Dela Costa St, in Makati, tall buildings need wide sidewalks, as wide as Ayala Avenue’s.

From our building codes follow our zoning regulations, which are about as archaic. Parking in most parts of Metro Manila is a guerilla affair where everyone is a combatant and collateral damages of bent fenders and exploding tempers are a daily occurrence. All of us are held hostage by our mean streets and terror-filled sidewalks

Then you have those dam poles and the spaghetti wiring they support. There is no rhyme or reason for so many poles (wouldn’t one do?), most of which are strategically situated at the very spot where pedestrians need to pass through most — corners, and narrow portions between buildings.

There are a few areas in the city that do address all these problems. Modern Makati evolved with all of these challenges in mind. Sidewalks there were built wider than any Manila had seen in decades. Utilities were buried underground in major avenues like Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. In other streets they were relegated to the service roads. Makati of the ‘60s seemed like a dream in those days. The district also was the first to build multi-level parking garages and prevent parking access from major roads.

As the district filled out in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the areas’ building owners association (MACEA) was concerned that their already good urban design needed improvement. The hired a bunch of consultants (including this writer) to look at the state of its sidewalks and pedestrian system. I and my colleagues set out to evaluate the sidewalks of modern Makati.

We (landscape architects Zeny Galingan, Beth Espino and I) devised a rating system for sidewalks based on a number of factors including, 1) the width of sidewalks, 2) condition and evenness of pavements, 3) the presence (or absence) and spacing of shade trees or shelters, 4) lighting, 5) interruptions from driveways or building canopies or entrances.

Even Universal Studios celebrates walking by eliminating cars from its theme parks.

Makati in the ‘90s rated an average of 3.9 to 4.5 out of a perfect score of 5. This was compared to the rest of metro Manila, which we figured averages between 2 and 2.5 and even -1 in some streets where it was impossible to walk (since the sidewalks were converted to parking lots or markets).

The study contributed to determining the improvements necessary then. The late 1990s pedestrian improvements of overhead bridges, covered walkways, improved landscapes and pedestrian tunnels were the result (with the contributions also of the office of Leandro Locsin, the engineers Aromin & Sy and other consultants).

Ten years hence, the improvement cycle is beginning again. Improvements to Ayala Avenue, as well as many other streets in Legazpi and Salcedo villages are being planned. All this is to eventually get the rating close to a perfect 5. Major streets in Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Washington, DC, and Paris come close to this.

The MMDA started to do the same thing for the rest of Manila with its clearance program started by the former chairman Bayani Fernando. But politics and limited resources, along with constrained jurisdictions, prevented the MMDA from fully achieving results. Pedestrians have to suffer in the rest of the metro — the only relief is the business and commercial districts of modern Makati.

The rest of Makati is to undergo a similar transformation according to new mayor Jun Jun Binay. The local government, in fact, has been, and continues to be, an active partner in Makati CBD’s improvements. This collaboration has made Makati City the address of choice for business and commercial establishments.

The solutions are simple. Build and keep sidewalks as wide as possible. Provide generous greenery and tree planting. Light up the streets and corners. Pave sidewalks with sturdy materials (Ayala Avenue is soon to be repaved in solid granite). Finally, treat pedestrians with care. Without them, you risk losing or alienating the very patrons of your businesses, the very essence of urban life itself. For what is a city without its people, and unhappy pedestrians make for a woeful metropolis.

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Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.